No ferries cross between Cape Jervis and Penneshaw from Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 October 2026 while new ramps go in; the last sailing beforehand leaves Cape Jervis at 6pm on Monday 19 October. After that SeaLink runs a reduced schedule for a few days, then its usual timetable until two new ferries take over, expected in November.
SeaLink standard timetable as published on 13 October 2026, the same departure times as its 2025–26 printed timetable. SeaLink says it applies until the new ferries start, expected in November 2026. No sailings 20–22 October 2026 SeaLink – Kangaroo Island ferry timetables · 2026-10-13
Which Kangaroo Island timetable should you plan around in October 2026? Until Monday 19 October, SeaLink's familiar one: two big catamarans, Sealion 2000 and Spirit of Kangaroo Island, leaving Cape Jervis daily at 09:00 and 10:00 in the morning and at 16:00, 18:00 and 19:00 later on, while from Penneshaw the morning pair is 08:30 and 10:30, followed by 14:30, 17:30 and 19:30. A few more sailings run only on certain days. Then three days with no ferry at all, from Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 October, while the new vehicle ramps and a turning dolphin are installed at both ports.
And after that? From Friday 23 October, weather permitting, Sealion 2000 runs alone on a limited schedule for three or four days while crews train on the first new vessel, Wanggami. The usual timetable then returns for a few weeks with Wanggami alongside Sealion 2000. Only when the second ship, Ruwi, is ready will both newcomers start a larger timetable, which SeaLink expects in November 2026. On 12 October it said it still could not give a date, because Ruwi had not yet left the shipyard in Batam.
Why does this matter for the fare? Because SeaLink has no fixed price list for this crossing. SeaLink prices every sailing for demand, adds a fuel surcharge, and quotes only starting prices, so the cost of the same car and passengers can differ between a quiet midweek morning and a holiday Saturday.
SeaLink itself makes clear that no single fare can be quoted: prices for vehicles, and at busy times for passengers too, vary from one departure to the next according to demand and the time you travel. What it publishes is a set of one-way "from" prices, the floor of each category, and the booking engine then prices each sailing. On its visitor fare page those floors read $49 for an adult, $39 for a concession or student, $25.50 for children from three to fourteen and $99 for a car or campervan up to 5 metres, with bikes from $13. The page still labels that list as valid to 31 March 2026, so treat the figures as SeaLink's own examples of how the scale starts, not as today's price.
Three things are added or work differently. Whoever drives buys a seat too, priced separately from the car. Since 17 April 2026 every new booking also carries a temporary fuel surcharge, which SeaLink reviews each month. And island residents travel on a separate resident fare scale that visitors cannot book.
| Fuel surcharge, per passenger each way | $ 5 |
| Fuel surcharge, per vehicle each way | $ 14 |
| Secure car park at Cape Jervis, per day | $ 25 |
| Infant aged 0–2 | Free |
| Pet | Free |
Items below read on 13 October 2026: fuel surcharge effective 17 April 2026 and reviewed monthly; car park rate current. Base fares are set per sailing at booking SeaLink – Kangaroo Island ferry fares · 2026-10-13
Cape Jervis sits at the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula and Penneshaw near the eastern end of Kangaroo Island, with Backstairs Passage between them; the two terminals sit about 18 kilometres from each other as the crow flies, and SeaLink allows around 45 minutes for the crossing.
SeaLink's booked, demand-priced fares are the same model the Bass Strait operator uses on the Geelong to Devonport ferry, on a much shorter sea crossing. Within South Australia the state's other ferries are a different world: the River Murray cable punts such as the Mannum ferry carry cars free and need no booking at all.
The mainland terminal at the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula opens from 8am to 7pm, depending on the season's sailings. SeaLink's own secure car park nearby costs $25 a day and should be booked ahead, because works on the new marine infrastructure have cut its capacity sharply. The Cape Jervis public boat ramp is closed from 12 to 30 October 2026; SeaLink points boat owners to Wirrina Cove instead.
On the island side the terminal opens from 7.30am to 7.30pm every day, with a lift, an air bridge to the ferry and a produce shop. Parking at Penneshaw is now ticketed and run by Kangaroo Island Council rather than SeaLink. Nobody but works crews may enter either terminal area between Monday night, 19 October, and Friday morning, 23 October.
Public access to both terminals stops on Monday night, 19 October 2026, and resumes on Friday morning, 23 October, weather permitting. SeaLink says it is moving existing bookings to the next available sailing without a change fee.
Only drivers board with the vehicle; everyone else walks on via the passenger ramp. Since January 2024 SeaLink has not allowed anyone to remain in a vehicle during the crossing, so take what you need to the passenger deck.
If you leave the island on a late sailing, SeaLink warns that the closest petrol station open on the mainland is at Aldinga, 64 km north of Cape Jervis on the way to Adelaide.
Honey and bee products, potatoes, grapevine cuttings and soil cannot go to the island. Drop them in the bins at the SeaLink terminal before you board.
Dogs and cats ride at no charge, either left in the vehicle or kept leashed or boxed on the top deck, which is reached by stairs only.
SeaLink has run this crossing for more than 30 years, and in December 2021 the South Australian Government announced that it had won a competitive tender to keep it under a new Kangaroo Island Ferry Service contract. South Australia's infrastructure department has already finished a $73 million upgrade of the Cape Jervis and Penneshaw ports, with new berthing structures built to take the larger vessels. The two current ships date from 1998 and 2003 and will be decommissioned once Wanggami and Ruwi are in service.
The new ferries are 60 metres long and 20 wide, about ten metres longer and two metres wider than the current pair, and cars will drive straight through instead of reversing on board. SeaLink's stated plan for the new timetable is 11 sailings each way on peak-season weekdays from September to April, 9 each way at weekends, and 7 each way daily from May to August.
No. SeaLink has shut the service from Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 October 2026 to install new ramps, subject to weather. The last sailing beforehand leaves Cape Jervis at 18:00 on Monday 19 October, and a limited service with Sealion 2000 is due to restart on Friday 23 October.
SeaLink expects both new ferries to begin the new timetable in November 2026 but had no firm date on 12 October, because Ruwi was still waiting to leave Batam. Wanggami is already in South Australia and will join Sealion 2000 first.
SeaLink prices each sailing separately. Its lowest published one-way example for a car or campervan up to 5 m is $99, but vehicle prices rise at busy times, each passenger including the driver pays a separate fare, and a $14 fuel surcharge applies to the vehicle each way.
Five each way. The mainland departures are two morning boats, 09:00 and 10:00, and three later ones at 16:00, 18:00 and 19:00; the island departures are 08:30 and 10:30, then 14:30, 17:30 and 19:30. Others run only on weekdays, on Monday to Saturday or on Sundays, and extra boats are added when demand is high.
No. Only the driver may be in the vehicle while it is loaded and unloaded, and no one is allowed to remain in a vehicle once the ferry is under way. Passengers walk on through the terminal and wait on the passenger decks.
SeaLink wants you checked in half an hour before the sailing at the latest. Allow extra time to park: the secure car park at Cape Jervis has much less space during the port works and costs $25 a day.
Yes, pets travel free on the ferry, but they are not allowed in Seal Bay, Flinders Chase or any other national or conservation park on the island. SeaLink adds that anyone bringing a cat must notify Kangaroo Island Council.